MOPED ARMY

Yeah, three times.

Once at the corner of Walton & Ritchie Hwy, for daring to stop at a yellow light...it was a low speed bump which just knocked by bike over, but it really pissed me off given that the guy started yelling at me on top of it.

I ripped my helmet off and sailed it into his windshield (this was a bit before I started carrying a chain on a regular basis, and one of the reasons for it) and left a big nasty smashmark, cause I threw it really hard...and he went up on the curb around me, flooring it as I tried to jump on his hood and kick his windshield down into his head.

I fell off, of course, cause he really punched it, and came away with his rearview mirror for good measure, trying to hold on, which I also threw at his car as it blew through the (empty) intersection, but it fell way short.

Then I picked up my helmet and moped and just started laffing...I guess that guy isn't gonna hassle a ped-pusher again.

Also note, this was the SAME intersection where I was nearly killed several years later.

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The second time was truly an accident...we had one of those freak outta nowhere rainstorms in Maryland that day, from bright sunny day to half monsoon back to sun...that happens on occasion in the summer.

Well, I had a hole or leak somewhere cause the engine started missing when it started to come down hard, and visibility was terrible.

Some old folks, driving an old caddy, tapped the rear of my moped while trying to stop, cause my ped was black, my jacket camo...and my lights had chosen to die on me at the time...I managed to roll up on the hood, and the moped kinda pogoed off into the curb.

They were horrified, but I rolled off, none the worse for wear, and upon checkin out my 'ped...saw nothing more than one rearview mirror snapped off and smashed, a few scrapes and a cracked headlight cover...to me - nothing.

So they apologised, and wound up having breakfast with me at the Hardee's this happened in front of, as a gesture of apology....we mutually decided that insurance companies are bastards, and we weren't gonna even bother to involve em.

So, you do get nice people out there.

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Third time, was some creep at Hanover and Patapsco...and a big part of why I carry a chain.

This dude behind me, in a hopped-up Monte Carlo was getting pissed cause I was in front of him, trying to make a left...only, you need a BIG hole to make a left in a moped.

So he starts honking, cussin, and actually has the nerve to bump me.

I get off the bike, he locks his door (not THAT dumb, alas) and aims the car at me, and so I went APESHIT....swingin chain like a madman and trying to get in a position where he could not run me over.

He took off, and I never saw his ass again, which is good, cause I'd do it again inna heartbeat.

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Basic note on this here - if a Car hits you on a moped, especially from behind, go down and STAY down...act like yer out cold if you must.

Most folks will take off the minute you stand up, they'll run like hell....but it's one thing to leave the scene of a misdemeanor accident, another to leave the scene of a potential automotive homicide.

It also generally tends to discourage them from running your moped over to get away, cause I've seen that happy, tho, thankfully it wasn't me or my moped.

Of course...depending on the area and situation, I've been known to slash out the tires of a car that's hit me and looks to be about to run....but I don't reccommend doing that, for legal reasons.

Oh...and final note...just cause that brought it to mind, and it occured at the exact same spot as the first incident.

Ever rolled up to a stop light, put one leg down...and your heel lands in a slick spot of automotive sludge/grease/goo....and dump yourself, unassisted ?

Definately one of the most embarrassing moments of riding a moped, I tell ya.

-Ree

I got plowed waiting to turn 2 weeks ago! by a 16 yr. old kid! I wish I woulda stayed down but my adreniline was pumpin to hard! He didnt want to get insurance involved so hes payin cash to get it fixed, the good part is he didnt even look at my scooter. so even the things he didnt break hes gonna fix! I knew there was tough moped riders out there!

No Doubt, Thers a one moped rider who could walk into a Harley Bar!

After I bought my Newport, my dad told me that one of my great uncles was KILLED on a moped. I guess he was trying to make a left turn on a busy intersection and got nailed by a car. His head hit the windshield and busted his helmet open and he died of severe brain damage.

Well, Baltimore, Maryland...especially "The Ghetto" down where I lived...you ran a risk every time you stopped for a street sign.

They'd rush up, try to knock you off...and run with it or ride it off on you, as long as it was half a dozen of THEM and only one of YOU....two or more riders and they'd hide.

After a while tho...it got around that I would lay chain to anyone who came NEAR me or my wheels, and prolly try to run them down for spite, and the main part of that slacked off a bit, tho you still get hassle from time to time.

Cops weren't any help, either - they'd more often try to arrest ME for actually daring the heinous crime (Gasp, the Horror!) of actually defending myself and my friggin property....and cause of that, I quit involving them, instead resorting to plain old barbaric and violent "solutions" that are the only form of "communication" that inner city punks understand - i.e. - toucha my stuff, and I breaka you head !

Hell, I moved to Detroit cause it was safer than Baltimore !

-Ree

Yep, same deal got me....the old left turn.

You hafta pull out in order to see around the other left turn traffic....when that light goes yellow, you cannot back up, so you HAVE to go.

If someone sees the yellow and punches it, it's your ass, no two ways about it.

I was lucky, had a reinforced frame, motorcross armor, and a damn good helmet...one of a matched set...the other one which I wear now.

(you shoulda seen the dents and scrapes in the other one !)

I took most of a Tbone style collision at combined 70+mph to the right leg, which hit so hard the frame actually bowed around the bone, before separating in midair...the moped coming to rest about 20 feet from me, and me landing damn near 50 feet away, the side of my helmeted head coming down first.

The only serious damage to me was my leg, and most of that which compounded it and caused me to lose it was lack of/denial of care by the medical establisment, not the accident.

The moped fared even better...the exhaust bolts were split clean off, and one of the cylinder bolts was stripped, but it ran ok.

The frame was gone, so I mated a 74 Tomos-Koper rear to a 78 Puch Maxi front end, and put that engine on it, and it was still runnin when I hadda leave it behind when movin outta Baltimore.

A left turn is the most dangerous manuver in the world on a moped.

-Ree

Nod.. left turns are the worst - personally I plan a route home every day where I can avoid ALL left turns if possible (Or at least only making them at a t-intersection where you have to worry less about oncoming traffic) Takes me through a lot of side roads and adds about 10 minutes to the trip.... but I figure take the road less travelled and have some fun with it.

After all... when you don't have someone 6 inches behind you, when you don't have someone cutting in front of you without signalling, and when you don't have someone honking because you're only slightly above the speed limit and they want to go WAY above the speed limt.... riding a moped is just about one of the most fun things there is.

Ain't nothing quite as much fun as puttering around an empty piece of asphalt on two wheels (and going at just the right speed to see the sights as more than a blur)

Jamie

Hehe... reminds me of one time... this guy shouts out as I'm riding by (while I was on my puch maxi before I got my tomos) "Nice bike loser!"

I simply shout back "I'm riding, you're walking... seeya!"

It ain't the size of the machine, it's the amount of fun you have riding the thing. :)

Peggy,

YES

Ron

i found that old spark plugs come in handy if you got a 50cc engine. but since i put the 70 kit on my tomos i just give a nice big finger and slam on the gas. look behind me 10 secs. later and there at a comfortable 50 feet.

-mike

hell yes, i even painted it black so it looked like the original. ask me anything u wanna know in another post.

-mike